Tobacco-treating machinery.



J. M. VAUGHAN.

TOBACCO TREATING MACHINERY.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.26,1911.

1,017,713. Patented Feb.20,1912,

G SHEETS-SHEET 1v J. M. VAUGHAN. TOBACCO TREATING- MACHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 26, 1911.

Patented Feb. 2o, 1912.`

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mN QN J. M. VAUGHAN. TOBACCO TRBATING MACHINERY.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. M. VAUGHAN.

TOBACCO TREATING MACHINERY.

APPLIoATIoN FILED APR. ze, 191'1.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

J. M. VAUGHAN. ToBACco TBBATING MAGHINERY.

APPLIATION FILED APR. 26, 1911. 1,017,713, Patented Feb.20, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5A y J. M. VAUGHAN. TOBACCO TREAJHNGy MACHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2B, 1911.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.v

@SHEETS-SHEET 6.

' tobacco treating apparatus embodying the JAMES M. VAUGHAN, 0FOWENSBORO, KENTUCKY,

TQBACCO-TREATINZG MACHINERY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led April 23, 1911.

Patented Feb# 29, 1912. serial No. 623,473,

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES M. VAUGHAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Owensboro, in 'the county of Daviess vand State ofKentucky,havezinvented certain new and, useful Improvements in Tobacco-Treating Machinery, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and'useful improvements intobacco treating machinery, and relates particularly to an improyedconstruction o apparatus of the continuous type, the parts of which are'so arranged that the tobacco, fedinto one end of the machine, may becarried continuously therethrough so as to be dried by the action ofheated air, subsequently cooled to the required temperature, and finallyordered by the actionof jets of live steam.

The invention has for one of its objects an apparatus of this characterin which the heated air may be maintained at all times at apredetermined or requisite temperature, in which said air may be -keptpure and thereby assist in producing a better product, and in which theair will have extracted therefrom the particles of nicotin taken np fromthe tobacco and held in suspension, this not only keeping the air pure,.but saving this valuable by-product.

With this and other objects in View as will more fully appear asthe-description proceeds, the invention consists in certainconstructions, arran ements Aand .combinationsof the parts tat I'shallhereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding'of the invention, reference is .to be hadctothe following description and 'accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is' av longitudinal vertical sectional view of the feed end orportion of a prlnciples and Improvements of my invention; Fig. 1 isasimilar view of an intermediate portion ofthe machine;Fig. l is acorresponding view of the discharge end o1' portion of t e machine; Fig.2 is a verticalljitransverse sectional view, the section being't'takensubstantially on the line 2--2 of AFig. 1, lookingin the direction ofthe arrows; Fig. is a detailed sectional View line 3-3 of Fig. 1"; Fig.4 is a lan is shown in longitudinal section in Fig. la; and, Fig. 5 isan end view opposite tothe end illustrated in Fig. 2. ,f

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in 'all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.'

Extending longitudinally in the main framework orhousing of theapparatus are any desired number of endless chain carriers 1, the numberthereofdepending, manifestly, upon the size of the plant or apparatus,there being three pairs of Athese carriers in the present embodiment ofthe invention (see Fig. 2). The chain carriers 1 embody hooked inks, thehooks being designated 2 and being designed for engagement with sticks 3extending transversely as s own and on which the bunches of tobacco maybe sus ended.

Within t e upper and lpwer stretches of the several chain carriers 1, anendless foraminous or reticulated carrier. 4 is mounted, preferablextendin for a lo'ng tudinal movement rom one side of the gang of'chainconveyers to the other. In the present. instance, the conveyer-4 is madeor built up of any desired number of laterally joined strips of wovenWire. The upper stretch of the conveyer 4 lies below the upper carryingstretch or stretches of' the endless chain conveyers 1, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 1, and isprimarily designed to support and carryalong loose leaves or port-ions thereof that may be broken or droppedfrom thevbunches suspended on the sticks 3, although it is of course tobe understood that the tobacco, in its loose leaf or other co'ndition,'may `be laid directly upon the upper stretch of the conveyer 4.

The main housing or framework of the apparatus includes a bottom Wall 5which may be the oor of the roomin which'the apparatus is located',longitudinally extending vertical side walls 6, a main or top roof 7,and partition or-lower false roof 8 which, with inner or false sideWa1ls-9, divide the -housing from one eind tothe other into a` mainmiddle compartment A and side co1 partments B which are designed for thecirculation of heated airand in which'steam radiators 10, or otherheating devices, are mounted. The side compartments B communicate atthelower edges `of the inner false side walls 9 with the botsired intervalslongitudinally thereof and in each of these openings there is mounted adown-'draft fan 12 suspended to rotate about a vertical axis on thelower end of a vertical y shaft 13, said shafts extending up through ormain roof 7 and being driven in the to any dpesired wav, as by bevelpinions 14 meshing with corresponding pinions 15 on a main line or driveshaft 16 extending n a median line along the top of the roof 7 y andjournaled in any suitable bearings. In this connection, 1t is to be'understood that while Figs. 1 and la' show diierent portions of thedrying p ortion of the apparatus, such portions are not continuous inthe accompanying drawings; for the sake of brevity and to reduce the`number of sheets 'of drawings used, an intermediate` ortion of thedrfing part of the apparatus s been omitte be of any desired length anembody any desired number of the down-draftans 12 arranged at an desireddistances apart. At this oint, I eem it advisable .to describe for -t esake of clearness, the operationof roducing circulation of heated airlin the ryin 'portion of the machine. Itwill be seen t at the fans 12serve to create or maintain a circulation of air downwardly from the topchamber C onto and through the tobacco-carried by the conveyers 1 and 4,and

that such air currents, after passin through throu h draft or suctionfans. 17 that are two 1n number in the present instance and that'are'mounted at. the topof an up-draft chamber or compartment D separatedfrom the compartment 4C by a transversely extending ver tically dis osedpartition 18. In the present. embo `iment of the invention, the updraftfans 17 are driven by transverse countershafts 19 that have a commondriving connection with the shaft 16 at one end of the latter. d

- It is here to be particularly noted that the f ans 17 are interposedbetween the outlet opening 20 of the up-draft compartment D `Suiice it't0- say-that this portion ofthe a paratus may the vopposlteside walls6, whereby the cdi! ition of the diiferent compartments, that is,

and any desired number of coils 21 of any desired number ofconvolutions, said coils separating the fans from the final dischargepassage 22 which leads to the atmosphere and which may be provided withany desired form` and construction of damper 23. In the resent instance,the damper is controlled by means of a cord 24 connected at one end,thereto and leading downwardly to a point within convenient reach ofthe attendants. It is intended that cold water shall be circulatedthrough'the coils 21, being passed thereto from a supply pipe 25 anddischarged therefrom through a pipe 26, on opposite sides of themachine. Hence, as the air, heavily laden with nicotin, is sucked up4,from the 'compartment D and caused to pass through the coils 21through which the cold water is flowing, the nicotin 4will be condensedandV fall into laterally extending pans or troughs 27 which in thepresent instance are two in number extending in opposite directions asbest seen in Fig. 2, the nicotin, which is a valuable byproduct for avariety of uses well known to l those skilled in the art to which thisinvention appertains, being thereby collected and saved, while at thesame time the air is purified, which not only promotes hygienicconditions in the room 1n which the apparatus is located, but alsoinsures a purer and sweeter product in the treated tobacco, this resultbein secured by means which I shall now descri e.

" ,Leading rearwardly from the coils21 are any desired number of fines28, these being two in vnumber in the present instance in order toprovide a middle space on 'the roof 7 for the accommodation of the lineshafting and other driving parts. By closing the damper 23, the entire'volume of air passed-"through the coils 21 may becaused to iow throughthe lines 28, said fiues terminating in and covering openings 29 thatare formed in the to 30 of the middle cooling chamber E of t 1e machine.A main -fan 31 is mounted in the chamber E, said' fan being a down-draftfan and drawing the air from theilues 28 down into the main middlecompartment A a'bove the upper stretch of Vthe chain 1. Thus acontinuouscirculation may be maintained, the air being 'purifiedrepeatedly as it passes throughthe coils 21, this operation alsoinsuring that the proper temperature may at all times be maintained, asby actuating or adjusting the damper 23 or any desired number of dempers32 arranged at any desired intervals apart at the upper ends of thecompartment `B above the heating coils or radiators 10, the dampers 32being controlle in' any desired way, asby cables 33. j '34 desi atesdoors that are provid "n the temperature thereof, and the condition lofthe tobacco may be determined at any ment E borders upon the ordering ordischarge portion of the apparatus. The main middle compartment A andthe sirle compartment B and top compartments C are all included in thisportion of the-appa-l ratus, the false roof 8 which separates the middlecompartment A from the to-p compartment C beingv4 formed with anydesired number of openings 35 in which down-draft fans 35 are mounted,said fans being carseparately driven as by belts 38 from a main lses ytheir length, the ,flues 47 are formed with ried by vertical ,shafts 37'operatively connected to the main line shafting l6a'which corresponds toand which is arranged in longitudinal alinement with the shafting 1 6before mentioned. The shaft 3la which carries the fan 31 is alsooperated by theshafting 16a, and it is to be particularly noted that thetwo lines of shafting 16,16a are drive' shaft 39, independently operableclutches 40 being connected with the band wheels 4l for the drivingbelts 38, .whereby one line of shafting may be drivenA and the otherIheld in an moperative position, according to the particular requirementsof the case. The tobacco, as it passes through this rear-portion of themachine, is acted upon by air heated by live jets of steam passinginwardly into the compartment A at the bottom thereof from heaters 42that are mounted in pockets 43 constructed on the outer side of the mainhousing or framework, the steam passing through orifices 44 formed intheside walls of the housing, as

Abest illustrated in Fig. 3. The air is cir,

culated, by means of the down-draft fans 36, down throughv the tobaccoand is, laden with the'live steam, thencepassed upwardly and inwardly soas to maintain alateral circulation, while at the same time these aircurrents are drawn toward the rear end of the machine by any desiredlnumber of 11p-draft fans 45 secured to shafts 46 and.

operatively connected to the line shafting 16a. The fan or fans 45 forcethe air into fines 47 that open at theirforward ends into thecompartment C adjoiningthe compartment E; At. intermediate points incold air intake passages 49 controlled by dampers 50, and at otherpoints in their length, for instance, at their rear ends, said flues 47are formed with steam exhaust passages 51 controlled by dempers 52operateftl-bymea-ns of cables or cords 53; It will vthus-beunderstoodthat if conditions in the ordering compartment justify it, Imight notl wish to exhaust steam or' take in cold as to permit steam toexhaust and the damper 50 may be opened to any desired extent accordingto conditions present or requirements of the case, so as toexhaust someof the steam and take in freshl air.

As the operations of the different parts o f the apparat-us have beendescribed in con# nection with the constructionv and operation thereof,I deem no further description of the operation necessary.

The conveyers may, of course, 'be driven in anyl desired way, that is byany desired mechanism; In the present embodiment of the invention, theyare driven only at the rear or discharge end of the apparatus, the drumshaft 56 for the rear end of theconveyer 4 carrying a sprocket wheel 57which is connected by a sprocket chain 58to a corresponding wheel 59onthe rear shaft 60 of the upper stretchofthe conveyerl. This shaft 6()also carries a worm gear 61 which meshes with a worm`62 on the lower endof a lvertically disposed` shaft 63, it being of vcourse understood thatthere are`three of these shafts 63v and related parts, owing to the factthat there are three pairs of endless chainconveyers l. Each of theshafts 63 carriesv at its upper end a worm gear 64, said gears meshingwith worms 65 on a shaft, 66, which receives itsy motion from a stubshaft 67 driven as by a belt 68 from a driv` ing shaft 69 supported kinsuitable hangers from the ceiling of the room.

When the tobacco is laid directly upon the upper stretch of the conveyer4, and not suspendedffrom the sticks on the conveyer l,

VI preferably employ end doors 70, atboth ends of the machine, saiddoors being swung downwardly to partially inclose the ends of thehousing above the upper stretch of the` .conveyer ,4 and the spacesbetween the adjoining side edges of the door being lclosed by laterallyswinging sections71.

Itis to be understood that my invention I is notl limited to the use ofcold water pipes to produce the condensation of ,the nicotin, but thatany cold surface may be employed for this purpose; and that variousother changes may be made in the construction', larrangement andproportions of the parts without departing from the scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.`

`Having thus described the invention, what is-claimed as new is:

1. An apparatus of the character described, embodying a compartment forthe tobacco, means for establishing a circula- I tion of heated airthrough the compartment,

and means for condensing the nicotin' from the circulating air.

2..,An apparatus of the character vdescribed., embodying a compartmentfor Vthe tobacco, means for establishing and maintaining a circulationofheated air in said compartment, and a nicotin condenser mounted insaid compartment in the path of the current of air. 3. An vapparatus ofthe character described, embodying a compartment for the tobacco,-meansfor maintaining a circulation of heated air in said compartment, saidmeans including down-draft fans, a flue connected at its ends to thecompartment, a nicotin condenser in said flue, and an up draft faninterposed' in said liue between the condenser and the communicating endof the compartment.

4. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a compartment forthe tobacco, a .Hue connected at its ends to the compartment, the fluebeing provided with a damper controlled discharge passage, a

lnicotin condenser interposed between said passage and the adjoining endyof the compartment, and means for establishing a circulation of airthrough the Hue andcompartment, said air passing through the condenser.y

5.` An apparatus of the character described, embodying ax'compartmentfor the tobacco, a flue connected at its ends to the top of thecompartment, said fiile being provided With'a damper controllid dischare passage, a nicotin condenser comprising co d water pipes mounted insaid' Hue, a trough underneath said pipes, and means for establishing a`circulation of heated air through the flue and compartment.

InV testimony whereof, I aix my signature in presence of tWoyWitnesses.`Y

y.minas M. VAUGHAN. [L sy] y" Witnesses: y

J. G. WEILL, J. M. MA'rrrNGLY.

